If you aren't yet aware of how extensive the online shilling efforts are, you can read some of these links:

https://np.reddit.com/r/shills/comments/4kdq7n/astroturfing_information_megathread_revision_8/?st=j1y5la6q&sh=75667764

https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/1dz470/most_reddit_addicted_city_over_100k_visits_total/

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks

https://theintercept.com/2015/06/22/controversial-gchq-unit-domestic-law-enforcement-propaganda/

Now that we have established how frequent the shilling is, let's look at the tactics they use. They like to spread false information, attack true information, propose incorrect explanations for facts, divide, and disrupt.

Once you understand what kinds of things they do, you must understand how they do this. The majority is automated: bots that write posts or upvote/downvote things. The next level is poorly-trained, low wage employees that produce low quality content, mostly just trying to shout down ideas they dislike. The final level is well-trained operatives that know how to make advanced arguments, supply sources, and are much more difficult to spot and defeat.

Our entire strategy should revolve around the fact that there isn't enough money or enough intelligent traitors for a large amount of well-trained operatives. If they have to dispatch CIA veterans to put out fires all over the internet, we will win quickly.

Our tactics should revolve around winnowing out the bots and low quality shills with our limited resources. How do we accomplish this? Expose the shilling and convert the human agents to our side.

First, write good material. Explain yourself completely. Support your claims with sources. Bots can't even touch this, and the low-rent employees won't be able to refute your points. In many cases you can begin to win over the low-rent employees to your point of view. Once the shills sympathize with us, they will no longer fight as effectively for their cause, and may even begin to subtly undermine it, come forward as whistle blowers, etc.

Second, ask specific, factual questions that bots and morons can't handle. Things like:

(Calling attention to tactics) Why are you using tactics from the disinformation handbook?

(Calling attention to poor arguments) Why are you trying to win your argument with logical fallacies instead of facts?

(Calling attention to vote manipulation) Why are all of the comments repeating this talking point getting upvoted in lockstep?

(Calling attention to suspicious character traits or interests) Why are you defending the CIA in r/conspiracy?

There are numerous benefits to this approach. If the person you are engaging with actually is not a shill, they may stop and think about why they are acting like one, or why they are accepting logical fallacies. If they are a bot or a human moron, they won't be able to handle it, so their influence is instantly minimized and the shilling becomes more apparent to newer users, which galvanizes them and completely disrupts the disruption campaigns.

Finally, it is extremely demoralizing to the human shills when they try to distract the discussion and are repeatedly asked pointed questions that force the discussion back on point and expose their motives. It continually reinforces how they are painfully impotent to control the discussion, which causes them to stop trying so hard or even seek out a new line of work. The smaller the labor force available for shilling, the more money must be spent for lower quality disruption.

In other words, even with limited resources, we can defeat an adversary with billions of dollars and an army of operatives.

Warning: certain organizations will repeat "Cambridge Analytica" every chance they get in this comment section. They will accuse us of political partisanship, claim we are being too sensitive because we see the vote bots and shilling. They will definitely send a swarm of accounts and vote bots to try to hide this. You know what to do.